What you should know
- According to the AP, Border Patrol agents, particularly in Texas, are sending friendless or relative immigrants to the United States to offices in various parts of the country that are not receiving any alerts. Places often don’t have the space to host migrants. However, as such addresses appear on migrants’ documents, important notices may be sent later.
- The addresses in the documents shown to AP included administrative offices for Catholic Charities in New York and San Antonio; a church in El Paso, Texas; a private home in West Bridgewater, Massachusetts; and a group that runs homeless shelters in Salt Lake City.
- Republican Governors Ron DeSantis of Florida, Greg Abbott of Texas and Doug Ducey of Arizona also sent border-released immigrants to Democratic strongholds, including Chicago, Washington, DC and Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts.
NEW YORK – When Wilfredo Molina arrived in the United States from his native Venezuela, he told border agents he wanted to go to Miami but didn’t have an address. He was directed to what he thought was a downtown Manhattan retreat, but it turned out to be a gray office building.
“It was a fake building. I didn’t understand what it was, “she said.
Molina was among 13 migrants who recently arrived in the United States and agreed to share with them The Associated Press the documents they received when they were released from the country’s custody while seeking asylum after crossing the border into Mexico. The AP found that most had no idea where he was going, nor did the people at the addresses listed on their documents.
Customs and Border Protection, which oversees the Border Patrol, did not respond to repeated questions about the families and people interviewed and the addresses assigned to them.
But this suggests a pattern in which Border Patrol agents, particularly in Texas, send friendless or relative immigrants to the United States in offices without warning. Places often don’t have the space to host migrants. However, as such addresses appear on migrants’ documents, important notices may be sent later.
“We think the Border Patrol is trying to show the chaos they are experiencing on the border with the cities inland,” said Denise Chang, executive director of the Colorado Housing Asylum Network. “We just have to coordinate so that we can receive people correctly.”
The addresses in the documents shown to AP included administrative offices for Catholic Charities in New York and San Antonio; a church in El Paso, Texas; a private home in West Bridgewater, Massachusetts; and a group that runs homeless shelters in Salt Lake City.
A Venezuelan family who came to the administration offices of the American Red Cross in Denver were sent to several shelters before anyone offered to take them in. Migrants arriving in New York ended up in temporary shelters, hotels or apartments that the city helped them find and pay for.
An increase in migration from Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua pushed the number of illegal crossings to the highest level ever recorded in a fiscal year. In the 12-month period ending September 30, migrants were stopped 2.38 million times, up 37% from 1.73 million the previous year and exceeding 2 million for the first time.
The year-end data reflects the deteriorating economic and political conditions in some countries, the relative strength of the US economy, and the uneven application of Trump-era asylum restrictions.
Many are immediately removed under asylum restrictions, a public health ordinance known as Title 42, which denies people the ability to seek asylum to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
But others, including Cubans and Nicaragua, with whom the United States has tense relations, are released with warnings to appear in immigration court or on probation. Those immigrants have to tell agents where they will live, but many cannot provide an address.
“It almost seems like, at the border, officials are just looking for any possible non-profit address or just looking for any possible name and just writing it down without checking if that person mentioned it, if there are any beds or shelter there. ., or if this is a place that can provide legal assistance, “said Lauren Wyatt, attorney responsible for Catholic Charities of New York.” Clearly, this is not the most effective way to do it. “
Most of the migrants surveyed in New York had boarded taxpayer-funded buses that Texas and the city of El Paso regularly sent to the northeastern city.
Republican Governors Ron DeSantis of Florida, Greg Abbott of Texas and Doug Ducey of Arizona also sent border-released immigrants to Democratic strongholds, including Chicago, Washington, DC and Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. They were criticized for failing to inform local officials of the plans. Republicans say they are highlighting problems with President Joe Biden’s immigration policies.
The Biden administration recently agreed to accept up to 24,000 Venezuelans at US airports if they apply for asylum online with financial sponsors, similar to how Ukrainians have been admitted since the invasion of Russia. Mexico has said it will accept Venezuelans who cross the border into the United States and are deported under the authority of Title 42.
Yeysy Hernández, a Venezuelan who arrived in New York after taking one of the buses from El Paso, says the address on her documents is of a church in El Paso that did not expect migrants and where she only slept one night. She is now worried about the immigration notices posted there.
Hundreds of immigrants showed up at one of the New York Catholic Charities offices with documents listing the address. Wyatt said the group had complained and the government had promised to end the practice by August 1, which “obviously didn’t happen.”
The group has also received more than 300 notices to appear in immigration court from people the organization does not know, Wyatt said. He also received deportation orders for immigrants who failed to appear in court because their notices were sent to a Catholic Charities address.
Victor Quijada traveled with relatives to Denver last month after border agents sent the Venezuelan family to an American Red Cross office building. Once there, they were directed to a city shelter which also rejected them. Eventually they found a shelter that housed them for a few days, but they felt they were in danger.
“What we had to face was difficult; from the things we had to eat to being on the street, an experience that I would not wish on anyone, ”said Quijada.
Chang of the Colorado Housing Asylum Network eventually brought the family home, and his organization helped them rent an apartment. You said you are aware of several migrants assigned to group addresses who are unable to help them.
“Of the five families I’ve worked with over the past three months, all five have been picked up from the street, literally sitting on the sidewalk with the kids,” she said.
The building in downtown Manhattan that Molina went to is a refugee resettlement office of the International Rescue Committee, but it only provides limited services to asylum seekers there, said Stanford Prescott, a spokesperson for the group.
Only one of the IRC offices in the United States, in Phoenix, operates an asylum-seeker shelter, and most stay under 48 hours. However, his offices in Dallas and Atlanta have also been listed in immigrant records.
“We are deeply concerned that an incorrect list of these addresses could create complications for asylum seekers who are pursuing legal proceedings to seek safety in the United States,” Prescott said.
